


Heroes Beyond The Wall

by Booplesnootbunny



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: BNHA/AOT, Crack Relationships, Crossover, F/F, F/M, M/M, dont take this seriously, or do idk lmao, this started as a joke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Booplesnootbunny/pseuds/Booplesnootbunny
Summary: A BNHA/AOT crossover that nobody asked for.When the scouts finally travel beyond the confining walls of their land, they discover a modern world of people who have powers called "quirks." Nobody knows what to expect.For the sake of this fic, we'll pretend they're in the same time/era and that certain characters aren't dead.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta/Levi Ackerman, Bakugou Katsuki/Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman/Jirou Kyoka
Comments: 11
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

It had only been a couple of months since the Survey Corps had found out what truly lay beyond the walls, past the terrible titans. Despite a good amount of time having had passed, however, Armin Arlert still found it pretty hard to believe. He had been a part of the group that had gone out, alongside his usual friends, Captain Levi and Commanders Erwin and Hange, plus several other soldiers, and when they came across what they had found,,, 

Needless to say, they were left in shock. 

"Armin, come on." Armin was snapped out of the trance-like state of thought that he had accidentally caught himself in upon Mikasa's call to him. He looked over at his friend; beside her was Eren, and the pair had an air to them that Armin still hadn't decided if he shared with them or not. They were excited - which was something Armin couldn't quite say he was used to seeing in Mikasa, though in Eren, it was a rather usual occurence - but Armin still had his worries. What they had discovered was amazing, of course, but also terrifying. He took in a small breath before nodding to them, and together, the childhood trio headed towards the gate of the wall. It wasn't the fact that they were going outside the walls that scared him, no, that fear, although still slightly there, had been well suppressed into something minuscule at this point. It was the fear of what they were heading out to see. 

Within these months since their newfound discovery, soldiers of all kinds had joined together in clearing a secure path (or at least as secure as it could get) past the wall and to their destination, and with the help of Eren's titan abilities and Erwin's tactful planning, they were finally able to make the announcement that they would be crossing a couple days ago. Now that the day had finally arrived, Armin couldn't help but feel an unnerving pit within his stomach. 

"Armin." 

Once again, the blonde had gotten tangled up in his thoughts only to be dragged back into the present by Mikasa's quiet, yet firm tone. 

"Are you okay?" she questioned him. "Do you feel sick?" 

"A-ah, no, no, I'm fine," Armin replied, giving a laugh that he hoped sounded normal, but he knew it sounded more nervous than anything. "This is just,,," He paused for a moment to try and find the right words. 

"It's a lot, huh?" Eren spoke up. The three had stopped walking not too far from where the other members of the Corps were readying their horses, and Eren was watching through analytical eyes. 

"Yeah,,," Armin murmured, following Eren's gaze. "We just found out about all of this, I'm worried this might be too rash of a decision." 

"Maybe it is. But, Armin." Eren's aqua eyes met Armin's blue ones. "This could be our chance to finally see a better world." His eyes were shining in that child-like manner that Eren always held, and for some reason, this only aided in making Armin feel even more uneasy. However, he didn't voice his concerns anymore, and only gave a small sigh and a nod. 

"They'll leave without us if we don't go now," Mikasa said, nodding towards their comrades. They had gotten prepared rather quickly, it seemed like the majority of them were itching to go as soon as possible like Eren. "Let's go." Following Mikasa's lead, the three found their horses, mounted, and they didn't have to wait too long before Erwin shouted their departure. 

"Humanity will finally have more allies." His voice rang proudly, and was met by cheers, and after a few more words of confidence from the commander, he gave the call to go, and the gates rose open. Armin gripped the reins of his horse tightly as they began their journey to a place far beyond the walls, far from safety, far from home. 

They were headed towards a different group of humanity. 

... (we time skipping a little or whatever bc I'm lazy teehee 😌💅) ...

Thanks to the safe path they had secured, they had had little to no casualties, and no deaths from the titans. Night had fallen, but they were still on the move; it felt like they weren't making much progress, though, due to the lack of changing scenery since they had chosen to make the path through mainly wooded area for the sake of their safety, Armin knew, although he had to admit seeing the trees zooming by in his peripheral view was a bit nauseating after a while. Now that they were travelling in darkness, he was grateful he wouldn't have to see the dizzying trees flying past, but now it felt as though they were putting even less distance between themselves and their home since it was almost as though they were heading into an abyss of nothingness. 

They had stopped very few times because they knew their destination was far, and they wanted to make good use of their time. As they travelled, Armin settled on busying his tired mind on recollecting what they had learned from the other group of people. 

Those strangers had seemed far more advanced than they were, as much as it pained Armin to admit so. In fact, they seemed so far advanced that they had managed to create a society in which the titans weren't even a bother to them. To them, the titans were practically an extinct creature despite them being basically right next door. They had been brought into their city by two men, Shouta Aizawa and Toshinori Yagi, and when they had shared this information, Hange, Levi, and Erwin, of course, had immediately started asking questions. (Well, Hange more than the latter two.) 

What had been even more mind boggling was when they casually mentioned their super natural powers, or "quirks," as the two had called them. Of course, Levi was the first to call it out as false information, but the second they reached the center of their society, his claim was quickly shut down, very much to everyone's surprise. 

There were creatures - no, PEOPLE who had strange features walking among the,,, well, for a lack of better words, among then normal looking people. Sasha, of course, was the first to voice her discomfort at their sudden new surroundings. Not only the people, but the buildings as well. They were looming over them, and loud machines roared to and fro on their roads. 

Naturally, everyone had questions, and by the looks of it, the people of this new society also had questions because the second they laid eyes upon the soldiers, there was pointing, stares, whispers, as if they were a spectacle. Armin couldn't blame them, though; he knew if instead they had shown up within the walls, soldiers would immediately have their blades at their throats, so the pointing and staring was definitely less threatening, or at least he hoped so. 

However, Toshinori Yagi had said there was no time for all of their questions to be answered, so he instead suggested they come by later. Everyone had been on edge, but something about this scrawny man seemed to calm them down a bit, and Erwin agreed. The troops were offered a place to stay (the hotel had been nothing like they had known before, it was like something the royal family would have in their home), and the day following, Erwin had announced to them that he, Aizawa and Yagi had agreed that they would create a safe way to travel between the two groups, and once it was complete, the Survey Corps would make the journey to find out more about these people. 

Today was that day, and as Armin pulled himself out of his thoughts, he felt that tinge of sharp concern again. 

"Armin, Mikasa, check it out." Armin looked over at Eren, and he followed his gaze in the direction that Eren had nodded towards. Ahead of them, a light was becoming visible, and he noticed that his fellow soldiers were lowering their torches. 

"What's going on?" Armin asked. They were approaching the lit up area quicker, but he was positive they hadn't reached their destination yet. 

"We're about to cross into the half that they built," Eren replied. His tone was a mix of envy and amazement, and Armin quickly found out why. They were soon out of the hooded trees, and were suddenly traveling through a tunnel that was well lit. His jaw went slack in shock, but he didn't get enough time to process it. 

"Don't slow down, or you'll fall behind," Levi shouted back to them, and Armin clenched his teeth once more, gripping the reins as tight as ever, and made sure he was keeping up. As he did so, he still tried to steal glances around the tunnel. The sounds of their horses' hooves echoed, and it wasn't until he acknowledged the echo that he realized the tunnel was so large and protected. Where had they found the time to construct such a structure? In those short months, the soldiers had only managed a path that was only relatively safe, nothing like this concrete tunnel. 

He could hear the murmurs of the others around him, and upon catching glimpses of their faces, it was almost like their excitement had become tainted with that same envy that Eren's voice had carried. 

Once again, it felt as though they weren't making a lot of progression because the tunnel, as interesting as it had been upon first viewing, was now just as bland and monotonous as traveling through the dark woods had been. It came to them as a surprise when they started seeing people standing on a sidewalk-esque edge of the tunnel, waving to them as they passed, many with smiles on their faces. This time, Armin couldn't help but ignore Levi's warnings of falling behind. He slowed down a bit as he watched the people in awe. A large handful of them were wearing absurd outfits that he couldn't quite get a good look at as they passed, nothing like he had ever seen before.


	2. Chapter 2

"We have a stable for your horses over here," the pink one said, gesturing behind her. 

"It's nice and cozy for them," the brunette piped in, "and we have really nice people here who will make sure they're tended to!" 

"Leave 'em to us, you don't gotta worry!" 

This instantly made Armin's worries skyrocket. 

However, he didn't get a chance to fret before Levi started barking orders for them to gather their things off the horses, but he was interrupted by Aizawa. 

"You don't have to bring everything with you in one go, we can have someone bring it to the hotel you'll be staying at." Judging by Levi's face, it was clear to see he wasn't happy to be interrupted, but he gave a small grunt in response, and nodded to everyone else. 

"Take what's important," he said gruffly, and Armin wasn't sure if he was just imagining it, but it seemed as though Captain Levi was trying to one up Aizawa. 

"Yes sir!" The scouts quickly took a couple of their belongings, including their ODM gear, blades, and water canisters, and grouped together as the two girls and a couple of other people whom Armin hadn't noticed had approached started leading their horses away. This only made Armin's nerves go wild, but not as wild as Sasha's. 

"No, you can't take them away!" she suddenly shouted in an outburst. She was gripping the reins of her horse to her chest, and her eyes were distrustful towards the strangers. 

"Sasha...!" Connie murmured, but it was obvious that he was almost if not just as nervous as she was. 

"Sasha." Mikasa took a step towards the other girl and held her hand out in gesture. "It's okay." The calmness of her voice must have done something because almost instantly, Sasha released the reins and let it fall into the other person's hands. Her shoulders were still visibly tense and she clearly didn't hold a lot of trust towards these people, but her trust in Mikasa was stronger. Armin released a sigh of relief that he realized he had been holding in, although it relaxed him a bit to finally notice that he wasn't the only one who was still on high alert. 

Once their horses were all finally handed over and the soldiers were reassured multiple times that were in good hands, Erwin and Aizawa led the group out of the tunnel. They were immediately met by bright lights, lights from those same looming buildings, and from lampposts, and even lights from objects that people passing by were holding. 'Torches?,' Armin had immediately assumed, but upon closer inspection, they appeared to be some sort of tiny rectangular box that was emitting light from one of the faces. If only he could get closer, maybe he could analyze it further, but there seemed no hope in doing so. Looking around them, Armin realized they were surrounded by people in ludicrous outfits like the ones before, but something about these people... They gave off an air of confidence that the boys and girls from before had not quite had. 

"We'll be traveling by car from here to your hotel," Aizawa announced. They had stopped walking, and the scarved man had turned to speak to them. Armin couldn't help but feel a slight surge of pride for the scouts; next to Erwin, who was standing at the ready, neat and proper, this Aizawa Shouta character looked like a mess, like one of those who lived in the underground area (well, at least, Armin was assuming they looked as scraggly from what he had heard about them). 

"A 'car'?" Jean echoed. "Did he mispronounce 'cart'?" More mutters of confusion arose and Armin shared the befuddlement. Although hard to read, Armin could only take Aizawa's expression as unimpressed that they had no idea what these "cars" were, and it made him squirm with embarrassment. 

'He's looking down on us...,' he thought. 'Because we're not as advanced as they are...'

Without another word, Aizawa stepped aside, and that's when the Survey Corps soldiers found themselves staring at a row of those shiny metal machines that had been racing across their large roads those months ago when they had first arrived. 

"Whoahahahohoh!" Connie laughed in disbelief. "What is that thing?! Is that a 'car'?!" More comments from the soldiers were audible as they all tried to clamour as close as they could towards these cars without shoving into Levi or Erwin. 

"We brought a few, hopefully they'll be enough to take all of you. If not, we'll make double trips." Aizawa sounded as bored as Levi usually did, Armin noted. He turned to Erwin. "I'll let you divide the groups as you will. It's six people per car."

Erwin nodded in affirmation, then began to address the soldiers, calling out the squad leaders to divide their numbers down to fix the cars. 

As he hoped, Armin was grouped up with Mikasa and Eren, along with Jean, Connie, and, much to their surprise, Captain Levi. Well, actually, Armin wasn't too shocked that Levi would be coming along with them; as much as Armin loved Eren, he knew his friend could be a bit impulsive and even with himself and Mikasa being there, who knew if Eren would make any rash decisions and transform into a titan for any little thing. Having Captain Levi there took a little bit of the responsibility from Armin and Mikasa's shoulders, and his presence would make the travel feel less strenuous. 

As they were called into their groups, they were ushered into one of those cars. It appeared to be closed in, like a carriage, and there were three rows of seats, three at the very back, three more in the middle, and two at the front. The two in the front were already occupied by a man with swoopy, neat blonde hair, and the other was taken by another boy who had white - no, red - no... both red and white hair? Both seemed uninterested as Jean, Connie, and Eren piled over the seats to get into the back, then Levi, Armin and Mikasa sat in the middle. 

"Rather inconvenient to have a seating arrangement in the back that's hard to get to," Levi commented, his voice its usual scalding tone. 

"There's a button to open it," the boy responded without turning around to look at them. Just as he said so, from the back, Eren said, "Ohhh, what's this for...?" 

Not two seconds later, the seat Levi was in folded over. From the back, Jean and Connie both let out loud snorts as the Captain was folded along with the seat. 

"C-captain, I'm so sorry-!" Eren gasped, desperately clicking the button over and over. Levi slammed backwards, and a click from the seat confirmed that it was no longer folded, making Eren stop pressing the button and instead freeze in fear as Levi slowly turned to glare at him. So much for making the travel less strenuous. 

"Hey, look, there's a button on this side too!" Connie said. 

"Connie, n-" Armin was cut off as Connie pressed the button, and he and Mikasa were folded along with their seat. 

... (more time skippy heeheehoohoo) ...

The car trip had been less than brilliant, to put it simply. Because of Levi and Mikasa's sour energy, and Armin being right in between them, plus Eren and Connie absolutely fearing for their lives from the backseat, and topping it all off with Jean stifling his laughter, the car ride was silent. Not only that, but the driver and the boy didn't seem too eager to spark up a conversation. 

The last words that they had exchanged were when the car had suddenly sprung to life. Jean, Connie, Eren and Armin had all let their start be known with small exclamations, and even Levi and Mikasa were gripping Armin, a hand each, as though ready to pounce to protect him. 

"What was that?" Levi had immediately demanded answers. "What's happening?" 

"The car is on," the driver responded, looking at them through a mirror that hung at the front of the car. "It's the engine."

Mikasa had turned around to check on Eren, the three boys in the back confirmed they were fine, and she turned back around. It was her turn to ask a question. 

"What do you mean 'on'?" 

"The car can move now. It doesn't require any sort of animal to pull it." 

This society was really one surprise after another. 

After a couple more questions, and more startled remarks as the car began to move, the scouts seemed to be satisfied enough to fall silent again, though the tension never left. Now, Armin felt the need to end the silence. 

"S-so does everyone here have, um, quirks?" he asked, his voice a mere squeak. He watched the boy exchange a look with the driver, neither seemed to want to reply, and Armin shrank down in his seat, wishing he were back home instead. 

"No," the boy finally said. "Not everyone is born with a quirk." 

Feeling a bit better than he had gotten and answer, Armin tried another. "Are quirks a part of everyone's daily life?"

"For most poeple, yes."

"Are some quirks better than others?"

"Some are more useful depending on the situation."

"Why don't WE have quirks?" Connie asked, joining in on the questions. 

"You were born quirkless." 

"Can we get a quirk without being born with one?" Connie pressed on. 

"A way to gain a quirk is not known to anyone."

"Do YOU have a quirk?" Armin asked. 

"Yes."

"Do you know the speedy guy and the elbow guy and the frog girl and the pink girl and the cute brunette girl?" Connie asked. 

"They're my classmates."

"Does everyone know each other? Like, everyone with quirks?"

"No." 

"Do you have regiments of soldiers like us?"

"We have agencies of heroes." 

"You said classmates, so that means you go to school, right?" Armin asked. 

"Yes."

"How are you able to live so peacefully without the titans getting in? Surely your city attracts their attention plenty." 

"We've never had to face a titan, we don't even know what they're like," the driver finally spoke. "For years upon years we've been safe from them. Many of our citizens aren't even aware they exist." 

"But HOW?" Armin was practically leaning forward in his seat, desperate for the answer. How could they possibly be so protected? 

"I don't know, kid." He was quiet for a moment. "Since I was born, we've lived a life without titans. Only a few know of them, mainly heroes, heroes-in-training, and, well, you." The car slowed to a stop and before anyone could ask or say anything more, the driver said, "We've arrived to your hotel." 

They went quiet once again, and it took Armin a second to realize they had no idea how to get out of the car. He could basically feel Mikasa and Levi's frustration as he looked from one to the other. Each were inspecting the door on either side through which they had entered dutifully, but there was so much and so little going on with the doors at the same time, and yet neither seemed to want to ask how to open the doors. 

"There's a handle right there. The shiny one." The boy finally turned a little more towards them, pointing to Mikasa's door and indeed there was a relatively well sized, shiny handle. Mikasa tentatively gave the handle a tug and the door popped open. 

"Do we press the button now?" Connie asked. He seemed almost too eager to press the button again. 

"Wait until we get out," Levi said, his voice almost a snap. He gave the handle on his side a tug and just like the one on the other side had, the door opened. He pushed it as open as it would go and stepped out, Mikasa doing the same thing from her end. Unsure which door to go out through, Armin settled on following Mikasa. Once the three of them were all standing outside the car, the seats they had been in folded over, this time twice, and the three boys who had been settled in the back jumped out beside them, Eren going the same door as Mikasa and Eren, and Connie and Jean following Levi.


	3. Chapter 3

Behind and in front of the car they had been in, their comrades were struggling out of the cars. By the sound of some of the yelling, it seemed they too were experiencing the folding seats. 

"Come on." At Levi's orders, the group followed him towards the entrance of the building, and the other groups came following as well. Armin stayed close to Mikasa and Eren, but the two seemed just as tense as he was, which didn't relax his stirring nerves. 

"If anything happens, I'll transform and get us the hell out of here," Eren was whispering to them. 

"Don't be stupid," Jean hissed back. "Did you SEE the powers these people have? They'll destroy you."

"We have our ODM gear, we can escape, I'll transform, and we'll book it outta here," Eren retorted. 

"I'll follow you, Eren," Mikasa said. "I'll kill anyone who tries who get near you."

"Oi." Levi's voice made them all jump. "Quit chattering back there, and pay attention." 

"He's right, we need to figure out a perfect escape route," Eren said, nodding thoughtfully. "Armin, we'll leave that up to you."

"Huh??" Great, now he had to figure out the best escape plan if anything went wrong, but he didn't even know how more than half of their technology worked. He looked around the building nervously as they entered, flinching slightly at the super bright chandeliered lights above them. The ceilings were high, and there were windows up above. If need be, they could probably use their gear to swing up and break the windows open for a quick escape. 'Yeah, that can work...,' he though. And after they did, he would have to do quick thinking on his feet once they reached the outside. 'Best case scenario, we can just make a run for it to the tunnel- no, we'd probably have to send our quickest, probably Mikasa, Captain Levi and a few others to go to the tunnel first. They can get rid of the people guarding our horses, and they can use a smoke signal to let us know we can get away. Worst case scenario, Eren would have to transform and we'd have to fight on foreign grounds-' 

"How long do you plan on standing there staring off into space?" Armin jumped as someone nudged his shoulder. He looked beside him, over to the owner of the voice, it was a girl with short dark hair. Her tone hadn't been unkind, although it also hadn't been gungho cheery. The things dangling from her ears caught his attention. Earrings, he assumed at first, but he remembered where they were, and he followed them from the tip to their end and found they were connected to her ears. They were some sort of plug-like things. "Helloooo?" The girl gestured forward, and saw his comrades were stuffed into some sort of metal box. 

"Wha-" 

"It's an elevator," the girl said as though she knew exactly what Armin was about to ask. "It's gonna take us up to the floor you're gonna be staying on. Unless you'd for some reason prefer to take the stairs, but these'll get us up quicker." 

"Armin, were you not listening?" Connie teased. He was squished between Eren and another soldier. 

"N-no, sorry..." He hesitantly stepped into the elevator, and the girl followed after. 

"Sure hope we don't cause any accidents from surpassing the weight limit," he heard the girl mutter as she pressed glowing buttons on the inside of the elevator. It was probably a comment meant for herself only, and Armin really wished he hadn't heard it. He found himself trying to catch his breath as the doors of the elevator closed. Was this some sort of elaborate plan to kill the scouts? It was an enclosed space, they could easily slaughter them. No, they wouldn't do that if they had one of their own people in here, would they? Or maybe they would. Maybe this girl was some sort of soldier who would risk her own life in order to kill off everyone else, just like how the Survey Corps were willing to give their own lives for the sake of humanity. 

He was jolted back to reality upon feeling someone grab his hand. He looked down then at the person who had grabbed him. It was Mikasa. He squeezed her hand back. If they were going to die, they would die fighting, he decided.

The elevator suddenly jolted, and some let out a yelp or grunt. 

"We're just going up," the girl raised her voice.

It felt like ages before the doors finally opened again, but it had probably only been a minute, perhaps even less. As soon as the door opened, the soldiers rushed out, grateful to be on stable ground again. 

"Your technology! It's amazing!" Armin immediately recognized Hange's excited voice. Not too far beside their group, another group had exited off another elevator, and Hange was eagerly exclaiming to the white and red haired boy who seemed to have gone with that group. "How do you guys do it?!" 

Armin couldn't hear the boy's response, but it didn't matter anyway, for the girl started walking, and Levi barked an order to follow. Armin's legs were shaking from the elevator ride up, but Mikasa's grip on his hand reassured him that they were on firm flooring again, and once Eren relocated himself with them, they followed the girl. 

"The guys and girls have separate rooming arrangements," the girl explained as she pulled out a couple of cards from her pocket. She held them out towards Levi. "Each room will house three people, so it's up to you guys how you wanna split up. The room numbers are on the key cards. Now if the girls will please follow me this way."

"I'm not leaving Eren," Mikasa immediately told Levi. 

"That's not really up to me," he replied coolly. 

"Mikasa, don't worry about it!" Eren said, waving his hand dismissively. "It looks like we're only gonna be a hallway apart. Besides, I doubt anything bad is gonna happen, and if it does, we already established that I would be the one to protect us all." 

Mikasa was obviously hesitant to leave him, but Armin gave her a sort of confident nod, and she gently released her grip on his hand to place it on Eren's shoulder. 

"If anyone does anything to hurt you, Eren, I'll come running." 

"I'm not a little kid, Mikasa, I can protect myself!" Eren huffed. Mikasa gave him a knowing look, then paused before turning away from them and following the female soldiers down the hall. "Armin, let's share a room!" 

Naturally, Armin accepted the idea and gave a nod. "We need one more person," he said. As though on cue, Connie flounced over to them, confidently jeering, "That would be me, of course!" Eren and Armin exchanged a small look of amusement, then nodded. 

"Okay! Then it's set!" Around them, the other male scouts were deciding their rooming arrangements, and, seemingly, once they were decided, were going to Levi for their room "key card." 

"I... guess we should get our room," Armin hesitantly said. The three made their way to Levi, who, after a look of disdain at the three, handed them one of the cards. 

"Good luck keeping these two in check, Armin." Armin couldn't quite tell if the captain's voice was scornful or not as he was handed the card, but he chose not to dwell on it, and instead gave a small, nervous laugh, then ushered Eren and Connie away before either of them could argue. He looked down at the card in his hand and in tiny golden colored letters, it said "37," their room number, he figured. He quickly scanned the numbers above the doors that lined the hall and it didn't take too much effort to find their room. 

"Over here," he said to his friends and led them towards the closed room. The three stopped in front of the door, and Connie reached forward and tried to open it, but it didn't budge. 

"I don't get it," he immediately said. 

"That girl called this thing a key card. Maybe it opens the door," Armin suggested. 

"But... how?" 

That was the million dollar question. Looking around them, their fellow soldiers seemed to be stuck as well. 

"Maybe we just knock the door down-"

"No, that's rude!" 

"Well, then how the hell are we supposed to get in?" 

"Maybe there's someone we can ask. Look, there's the boy who was in the car, we can ask him." Armin nodded towards the red and white haired boy who was standing by the elevator - now that he could see him properly, he could see a dark scar over half his face - and said, "Wait here, I'll go ask. And please don't break the door." Connie and Eren grumbled in response, and Armin could only accept that as an okay, and he started making his way over to the boy. 

Everyone seemed to be getting impatient, and beginning to kick at their doors and pushing and shoving to try and get their chance at trying to get it open, and yet no one seemed to make a move to help them out. 'Are they seriously waiting for us to ask for help?,' Armin thought, resisting the urge to heavily judge them. Without warning, he was roughly shoved forward by somebody, and he let a gasp of alarm as he lost balance and started falling forward. He stuck out his arms in an attempt to catch himself - as much as he'd love to use his ODM gear to regain his balance much easier, they were much too crowded and he knew it would be stupid because he could easily hurt somebody - but the fall was happening too quickly for him to process what was even happening. 

Suddenly, he was in someone's arms. He had fallen forward into somebody's arms, faceplanting into their chest and found himself gripping their arms to restable himself. 

He stayed like that for a moment, stunned, before realizing, and he quickly started moving away as fast as he could, apologizing profusely. 

"I'm so sorry, I was pushed, I didn't-" Once standing on his own again and after taking a step or two away from this person, he looked up at them. It was a boy. He had spiky platinum blonde hair and striking red eyes. Armin felt his face heating up under this stranger's intense, startled gaze. "I'm sorry," he squeaked. "D-do you know how to open the doors?" 

"Use the key card they gave you," the boy grunted, pointing towards the card that Armin was gripping. 

"I- we don't understand." Armin felt like he couldn't breathe, and the longer he stared at this boy, the worse it got. He couldn't bring himself to look him in the eyes, so he tried looking anywhere else but at him, but he found himself inspecting the rest of him. His chest was nicely defined by the skintight shirt that beared an orange X he was wearing. He wore a green belt and unfashionable baggy pants, and yet, somehow, Armin found himself thinking that this guy was seriously pulling them off. On his forearms were large green bulb-like things; what they were for was anyone's guess. 

"You're all seriously that stupid," the boy sneered. It was more like a statement than a question, and Armin wished he could shrink right then and there. How more embarrassing could this interaction get? He snatched the card from Armin's hands, gave it a quick glance over, then started towards the room Armin, Eren and Connie were given. Armin scrambled after him, and once they reached the room, the blonde simply slid the side of the card down a small machine that was on the door, and the 'click' of the door unlocked could be heard. Without another word, the boy turned to walk back to where he apparently had previously been, and as he walked past Armin, he shoved the card into Armin's chest just hard enough to make Armin take a small step back. He paused and gave him a long stare that Armin found himself unable to break away from, then, after what felt like a lifetime, he snickered and continued walking away. 

"What a weirdo," Eren, who had waited on Armin, huffed. Connie had already flung the door open and Armin could hear the shorter male's exclaims of excitement. Eren and Armin shuffled in after him, and both let out shouts of equal shock. 

"This room is huge!" Armin said, blue eyes round. Three beds were lined to the right wall with a good distance between each, but even with the large beds in the room, it still felt spacious. 

"There's a closet built into the wall!" Connie gasped, stepping aside to let Armin and Eren see. However, Eren had already wandered, and he shouted from where he was, "There's a bathroom in this room! A super fancy one!" Connie and Armin looked at each other, eyes wide, and they both rushed to where Eren's voice had come from. Indeed there was an elegant bathroom connected right to their room. "And I think it's for us only!" 

"This is awesome!" Connie was practically squealing enthusiastically. Before the three boys could continue their investigation of the room, there was a knock at the door. They all looked at each other, on high alert again, and Eren stalked towards the door. He flung it open, Armin and Connie reaching for their blades at their sides behind him, but it was revealed to simply be what looked like a maid of some sorts. She looked like a sweet older woman, but they knew better than to fully let their guard down.


	4. Chapter 4

"If you could all give me your clothing sizes, I can give you pajamas for the night." Her voice was as sweet as her appearance. 

"Um, I'm not sure," Eren said slowly. He looked back at Armin and Connie, and the two shrugged. 

"We'll have to eyeball it then," she responded cheerfully. She took a small step back and seemed to be analyzing the three, then she turned to the cart she had with her and pulled out three nearly folded lumps of clothing. She handed one to Eren, scooched her way past him and into the room, handed another to Connie, then turned to Armin. "Shouldn't the girls be in the other hall, sweetie?" She looked concerned, and Armin let out an awkward, nervous chuckle. 

"I'm a boy, ma'am," he responded. 

"Ah! My apologies." She gave him a small smile and handed him the last folded clothing. "These should fit you three good, I never make a mistake when it comes to clothing sizes." As she spoke, she made her way back out of the room. 'Well, she's clearly confident,' Armin thought. "We'll bring by different clothes options for you tomorrow while you're out, so when you get back, your closets should be nice a full." She gave a small bow. "Have a good night." 

"Thank you, you, too," the three chorused automatically. She continued on her way to the next room, and Eren slowly shut the door. They all faced each other, holding their newly given folded pajamas. Armin finally turned and set it on one of the beds, then unfolded whatever was on top and held it out in front of him. It was a pale blue colored plain shirt. He placed it down on the bed and did the same with the next item. It was a pair or loose pajama pants. There was one thing left from the pile, and upon holding it up, they saw it was a pair of pajama shorts. 

"They gave us options," Connie said quietly. "How kind." He paused, then spoke again. "Can I have the bed in the middle?" Eren and Armin agreed. Eren took the bed at the farthest wall and Armin the one by the door, although Eren did argue for Armin to switch with him, but Armin insisted that he would be fine. The three changed into their given pajamas, and Connie was the first to gush over the soft fabric. 

Armin sat down on his chosen bed, and he immediately shared the overjoyed excitement that Connie was displaying. The bed was the softest thing he'd ever been on in what felt like the longest time. He leaned back, resting his weight on his arms, then finally flopped down fully on the bed. He felt like he was melting into the clean white covers, and he could smell the soap they had used on them. 

Another knock on the door, however, brought him out of his fantasy world of laying on a cloud. Once again, Eren went for the door, and upon opening it, they found themselves face to face with a still-in-uniform Levi. 

"We were invited to check out their best 'hero school' tomorrow, and I have the unfortunate responsibility to be your chaperone," he said disdainfully. "Erwin and Hange have to attend a meeting during that time, so you'd all best cause me no trouble while we're out and they're gone." He side eyed Eren specifically. "Or punishment will be determined by me." 

"Yes, sir," the three said. Levi nodded, then moved onto the next room. 

"That was a threat... right?" Connie asked. 

"Sure felt like a threat," Eren muttered. "Anyway, we should get to sleep if we're gonna be going somewhere tomorrow, I guess." The other two voiced their agreement, and Armin flopped back over on the bed. If this was a dream, he definitely never wanted to wake up. It was amazing. In no time, they fell asleep, and with the lights on, for they were all too tired to get the switch. 

... 

Armin was the last to wake up, which was rare. He was usually the first one "up and at em," but he had just been so comfortable that his sleep was deep. He was awoken by Eren and Connie's unconventionally loud talking as they were getting ready for the day. Armin rolled over in his bed, hugging the blankets close to himself, his eyes half open as they adjusted to the rising morning light that was beginning to stream in through the window that someone had drawn the curtains to. It seemed like they had turned off the light in exchange for the natural light. 

"So I was like 'you can't do that, that belongs to the family down the road,' and they were like 'and what're you gonna do about it?' and they started makin' fun of me 'cause of my height, y'know, so I did what any good civilian would do, and I tackled the dude to the ground, caught him off guard," Connie was saying as he pulled on his shirt. By his own bed, Eren was adjusting the straps to his gear on his legs, and making small noises of remarks as Connie spoke. "And lemme tell ya, this guy was absolutely shocked, he didn't think I'd actually do something about his thievery!" 

While Connie recounted his story, Armin rolled back onto his back and stared up at the detailed ceiling. So it wasn't a dream. They really had stayed at this hotel. 

"Armin, you up?" Eren interrupted Connie's ramblings briefly. 

"Hardly," Armin mumbled, laying his arms over his eyes to block the growing light. 

"Take your time, Captain Levi hasn't given any heads up or anything, so I'm guessing we're up pretty early." Armin hummed in response, and Connie continued with his story. After a couple minutes of laying there for a while longer and half listening to his friend's tale, he finally sat up. It was weird, just the three of them. He was used to everyone getting ready together, commenting on Connie's long stories. Not just those who were in different rooms, no. Everyone who had been there from the beginning. 

The thought of those they'd lost to death and those who had turned out to be the enemy made Armin's stomach churn, and he wanted to melt back into the bed and stay there for the rest of his life. It took more than he realized to pull himself fully out of bed, but once he was standing, he let himself release the thoughts for the time being, and he grabbed his clothes from where he had left them the night before. It wasn't a common thing for them to wear pajamas when out on a mission, they'd usually just sleep in the clothing they always wore, so changing in the morning felt a little odd. 

As Armin was buttoning up his shirt, a call of order from Erwin was heard through the door. "We depart soon, be prepared." A wave of anxiety flooded Armin. Sure, the hotel was comfortable and a dream place, but who knew what the rest of this place would be like. 

"I wonder what this hero school will be like," Connie pondered aloud. "Like, what do they even do? Imagine going to school at this age." They finished getting ready rather quickly, and after their final adjustments to their gear, they three trailed out. They had given Armin the key card, and he tucked it safely into his jacket pocket. They closed the door behind them, and were met with some of their comrades talking among themselves out in the hallway already. Armin could basically feel the haste and nervousness in the air. 

They quickly found - or rather they were found by - Mikasa, who was with a very tired looking Sasha; apparently they were roommates along with one other girl. Jean and Connie found each other quickly as well, and the group was together again. 

"If only Historia could be here," Sasha yawned. "She'd love it here." 

More people started exiting their rooms as Connie, Jean, Sasha and Eren discussed the commodity of the rooms eagerly. 

"How did you sleep?" Mikasa asked Armin. 

"Amazing," he immediately replied. "I want that bed." Mikasa gave a small smile and nodded in agreement. Their conversation was cut short as Erwin spoke again. 

"Hange and I must leave for our meeting. Captain Levi is in charge of you all." His gaze swept across the soldiers who were now standing at salute. "You all know your training. If need be it, do not hesitate." A chill ran down Armin's spine; even their commander showed clear uncertainty about this place. They all shouted "Roger!" and Erwin gave one final nod, then he and Hange went towards the elevator in confident strides. 

"Do... they know how to use that thing...?" Jean asked quietly. His question was answered as they pressed a button on the elevator and it opened not too long after. They stepped in, more buttons were pressed, the doors closed, and then they were gone. "Huh. Whaddaya know." 

Everyone was quiet for a while, all eyes on Levi, who was staring at the closed elevator. Finally he raised his voice, "We still have to wait on our escorts to get here, so make sure you're fully prepared. We don't need anyone with wet pants." His voice held a tone of mockery as his steely glare fell across each and every soldier. With that, he stalked towards the elevator and leaned on the wall next to it, arms crossed. Slowly, the chatter began again. 

"I'm hungry," Sasha sighed. "Do you think they'll give us something to eat, or were we supposed to come with our own food?" 

"I feel like it would be rude of them to think we'd bring our own food," Jean said. "We're their guests." 

"But, like, what if this was a business only trip," Connie piped in. "And they don't wanna feed us. What if that's their whole plan? To starve us?" 

"Huh?!" Sasha wailed. "I don't like that plan!" 

"Maybe when our escorts get here, we can ask them," Armin tried to reason. "If anything, we can send someone back to get food off of the horses, right? We left the stuff there."

"But I wanted REAL food, not those flavorless blocks of 'food' that we eat on expeditions!" Sasha complained. "I mean, look at this place! You can TELL they have good stuff here!" Their food conversation quickly turned into Sasha listing the things she'd love to eat while here, and after what was probably the hundredth item, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Out stepped a very beautiful woman in a dark and tan skintight suit. She had long dark, spiky hair as well, and a dark red mask that matched the detailing on her suit. 

"Hello! I'm your escort!" she announced with a smile as she stepped out of the elevator. She places her hands on her hips and looked around. "Where's Levi?" 

"Right here," Levi, who was still next to the elevator, said. His arms were still crossed, and his eyes were closed. 

"Whoa, you're smaller than I expected," the woman said as she turned to him. Armin could feel Levi's annoyance. "I'm the pro hero Midnight," she introduced herself. "I'll be escorting you guys to UA!" She turned to the soldiers and seemed to be taking them in, then said, "Since there's a lot of them, we can split them up. You take down half first, wait there, and I'll bring the other half down, like how you guys did last night." Levi gave a grunt of agreement, gave orders, and he led half of the soldiers into the elevator after he and Midnight exchanged a couple more words. 

"Does he know how it works...?" Armin heard Hitch mutter. Evidently, he did, for once they were all set into the elevator, Captain Levi hit a button that was on the inside, and the doors closed. They reached the bottom floor and unloaded, and by Levi's orders, they gathered towards the side of the lobby close to the entrance. Not too long after, Midnight and the second group arrived. Midnight's arrival came with her orders to follow her. Outside were car-like vehicles, except these ones seemed far larger than the ones they had been on the night before. 

"We decided buses would be more convenient than a ton of cars," Midnight was saying as the tall doors to one of the two buses opened. "Seating arrangement is up to you guys." She gestured for them to go ahead, and the soldiers tentatively marched into the bus. Once one was filled, they crowded into the next one. The usual gang had made sure to get on the same bus, and Armin and Jean shared one seat, Mikasa and Eren another, and Connie and Sasha a third. Armin and Jean's seat was next to Eren and Mikasa's, and Connie and Sasha's was behind Armin and Jean's. They sat near the front as directed by Levi, who was sitting at the very front. "I don't need you problem children in the back where I can't reach you," he had said his usual condescending tone. 

On the bus ride to UA, everyone quietly talked, gawking at the sites outside the windows as they passed them. However, they went quiet in absolutely shock and awe as the school came into view. Large gated guarded the entrance and they slowly came open as the buses pulled up. The large school was impressive. 

Finally, the buses came to a stop, and the scouts trailed out and regrouped. 

"Aizawa gave the okay for you guys to hang out with his class until your visit is over and you go home," Midnight said. "So it's sort of going to be as if you're attending the school except you won't be doing the actual work they're doing. Instead, you'll be observing and learning about how we do things around here." She began to walk into the school and motioned for everyone to follow. As they entered the school and walked, she continued talking. "This school trains our students to be able to contribute to the hero world, whether it be in business, inventions, or actual hero work. Aizawa's class is that of heroes in training, so you'll get to see up close just what kind of work us pro heroes had to go through during school." She kept talking, but Armin couldn't find the ability to focus on her words; his attention kept getting swept away by every little thing about the school. Everything looked so much more than what they had back at home, and questions about the architecture flooded his mind. 

The group suddenly came to a stop in front of a classroom. Midnight opened the door, interrupting Aizawa, who stood at the front of the classroom. 

"Looks like they're here," Aizawa said. Midnight stepped aside and Levi led the scouts inside the classroom. Armin immediately recognized several of the students, they were the same ones who had been with them yesterday, including the red and white haired boy, the pink girl, the brunette girl, the fast guy, the frog girl, the elbow guy, and, much to Armin's immediate alarm, the spiky haired blonde boy. The scouts chorused a "Good morning," to which the UA students chorused back, although less orderly, and, in fact, not everyone actually said it back. Midnight said her goodbyes, then hurried away. 

"Captain Levi and his soldiers will be joining us in class for these next few days," Aizawa said. "Show them the kind of heroes you are in that time." The students nodded and gave responses of affirmation. "Since our classroom clearly isn't suited to host so many people, I've organized for us to do some training outside. You'll be practicing efficient ways to combine your quirks. This is a group project, I'll assign you each once we're outside." He paused, then said, "You'll be having to figure out a way to attack while keeping in mind the fact that there will be many people around you who you can easily injure on accident. It'll be good practice go not cause more accidents than there already would be during a villain attack." The students gave determined responses, and Aizawa dismissed them by saying, "Go change and we'll meet outside." The students got up out of their seats, but before anyone could leave the classroom, a boy with spiky red hair asked a question. 

"Sensei, should we, like... introduce ourselves?" He looked at the scouts and gave a small smile. His tone was far from rude, in fact, he seemed excited over the idea of getting to know each the soldiers. 

"Yeah, we totally should!" Sasha let out a startled shout, and Armin shared her alarm; there was a random floating- or maybe it was sentient??- girl's school uniform. 

"Wh-wh-wh-what is that?!" Sasha whisper-shouted, pointing a shaking finger towards the uniform. 

"That's Tooru!" the pink girl said. "She's our classmate!" 

"Is.... is she... just... is she a uniform...?!" 

"It's her quirk-"

"Introductions can happen outside," Aizawa intervened. "You can share your quirks then. Go change." 

"Okaaaaaay," the students said. A few waved to the soldiers before leaving the classroom, and soon, only they remained, along with Aizawa. 

"What... are they gonna change into?" one of the scouts hesitantly asked. 

"Their hero costumes. You'll recognize them from yesterday," Aizawa replied. They were all quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "Let's go." 

... (I didn't feel like writing their walk outside so tiny timeskip boom they're outside now wooooo) ...

Once outside, the scouts were given permission to spread out wherever they would like in the large school field. Granted, none of them seemed to separate too much from each other, but after a few minutes, they slowly put distance between one another. Some sat down, others remained standing, but overall, none of them really knew what to do. They were at a school, and aside from the fact that it was a super technologically advanced school for people with supernatural powers, it was a school, something that the scouts hadn't been to in attendance in years; some never even went to school ever in their lives. Sure, they were there as guests, but Armin knew that they app acknowledged that there were definitely rules. The thing was, they didn't know what said rules were, so they all silently came to the decision to simply wait for orders from Levi. However, the longer they waiting, the more Armin was realizing that even the captain was unsure. Very little talk was happening, and Armin found himself plotting an escape plan like he had done the previous night at the hotel.


End file.
